The Arsenal centre-half has said he will never play for Paris Saint-Germain due to the rivalry with his old club Lorient

“It is a 100-year-old business which needed saving. The people who worked there also needed saving, for their families and for their futures.

“The accordion is a patriotic, cultural symbol for us. The business is trying to keep itself afloat and to reintroduce the instrument. My parents keep me updated and things are going well. So I hope that the business will start up again and that all of the employees will be able to continue to work there.”

Koscielny revealed his involvement in a rare interview with French newspaper L’Equipe in which he also spoke openly about his role as a reluctant dressing-room leader at Arsenal.

The France international has been Gunners captain in the absence of the injured Per Mertesacker.
Yet he admitted: “I do not mouth off, that’s for sure.

“I’m not a great orator and I don’t like long speeches. It’s not in my nature. But, for me, that is not the role of the captain.

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“The captain is someone who must act as an example on the pitch, to set his team-mates on the right path to win.

“I try to do the best I can, to fight on the pitch, win my duels and show my colleagues that they can count on me.

“It is in my performances and qualities on the pitch that I look to show my leadership.”
Koscielny still has more than 2½ years left on his £70,000-a-week Arsenal contract.

But Wenger is keen to recognise the defender’s importance by handing him a new £100,000-a-week deal to 2020.

Koscielny said: “It was Arsene Wenger who had the balls to buy me from Lorient when I was nobody.

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“I’d had one year at an average club in Ligue 1 and he took a big punt in bringing me to one of the ten biggest clubs in Europe. I am in the French national team thanks to the boss and I will be grateful to him my entire career.

“I will finish my career in England or at my old club Lorient.

“I will never live in Paris and nor will I play there. Part of that is due to the rivalry between PSG and Marseille, because I was a Marseille fan as a kid. But another reason is because I love living in London.

“I was 24 when I arrived in England and I had never lived in a big town, so it was a big step into the unknown for me.

“But my family is happy, the people are calmer than in Paris and there is more respect.”